Recently Mr. Osborne, the fruit expert in the Agricultural
Department, handed me an apple of which one-half
was typical Roman Beauty and the other as surely Senator.
There was no blending ; the division was longitudinal
through the median plane and as clearly defined as it was
possible to be.
The apple was grown in the orchard of Mr. Bourne,
Premaydena, South-East Tasmania.
The following note is sent with it from Mr. Ward, assistant
fruit instructor:—
"The apple was picked from a Roman Beauty tree
which had been grafted on a Senator stock. The
tree is young, as far as I know seven or eight
years old. This was the only apple of its kind
on the tree."
Judging from its history and appearance there seems
little escape from the conclusion that this is a genuine case
of graft hybridism. Reversion would not have given us a
fruit with such a well-marked distinction of character in
the two halves. Cross-fertilisation has not yet demonstrated
more than at most a slight general influence
